Pump plunger



Dec. 23, 1924 1,520,262 .c. J. SCHENK PUMP PLUNGER Filed Sept. 28, 1923 z 2 -IJIV E1YTOE M Chg/"lead Selle/1k I A ATTYS.

Patented Dec. 23, 1924'.

CHARLES J. SCHENK, 0F RUNNINGTON, CALIFORNIA.

PUMP PLUNGER.

Application filed September 28, 1923.

State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pump llungers,

of which the following is a specification.

Although my present invention relates specifically to pump plungers, and although the principles thereof may be applied to a great variety of plungers employed in either single acting or double acting reciprocating pumps, one of the latter being chosen for illustration herein, it should be under.

stood to be a primary object of this invention to provide a pump piston or plunger comprising novel and effective means to assure a reliable and substantially leak-proof fit between its lateral or exterior substantially cylindrical surfaces and the cooperating interior surface of a pump cylinder or barrel.

It is an object of this invention to provide a pump plunger comprising interfitting wall sections which are free to move radi ally in compensation for wear, and which are normally under an outward pressure tending to produce the requisite compensatory movement; and, in one preferred embodiment of my invention, the mentioned interfitting wall sections may consist essentially of facing layers substantially T-shaped in outline and secured to or integral with retaining or lining layers of such configuration as to produce a relative overlapping or a breaking of joints preventing a radial or longitudinal flow of water, or the like, confined within and above the same and producing the mentioned pressure.

It is an object of my present invention to provide a plunger comprising sections capable of the mentioned compensatory radial movement but nevertheless of such configurationas to produce an overlapping effect preventive of any undersired flow of liquid either radially or longitudinally through joints between said sections; and, in one advantageous embodiment of my invention the mentioned sections may be formed wholly or partly of wood, such as a hardwood soaked in oil after being cut to a suitable configuration, although the said sections may alternatively be formed of any suitable metallic or fibrous or plastic material and they may obviously be formed Serial No. 665,344.

' either integral or from distinct layers of material separately out or shaped and suitably secured together, both the inner section and the outer section being ordinarily T-shaped in outline, although the inner layer is preferably longer than the outer layer, in order to provide retaining means adapted to be engaged by a, securing ring or flange. When one of my radially movable sections is formed of separate T-shaped layers secured together, the inner and longer layer may be regarded as secured in an inverted position to an outer or wear-receiving layer; and rivets, or other equivalents, may optionally be employed to secure the mentioned layers in their desired relative position.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a pump plunger comprising suitable means for retaining and utilizing the self-adjusting overlapping sections referred to, the mentioned sections being preferably retained by means of rings or fianges integral with or secured to an upper annulus and a lower annulus, although provided with ample clearances to permit a desired relative movement; and, in a preferred embodiment of my invention, the mentioned retaining parts may advantageously be connected by a suitably apertured barrel adapted to maintain a desired relationship between all of the mentioned parts and optionally provided with a relatively movable lining element adapted, by adjustment, to control the size of the mentioned apertures therethrough, to secure a desired outward pressure upon the mentioned radially movable sections.

Other objects of my invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, and from the appended claims, taken; in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a vertical section-through the cylinder or barrel of a double acting p provided with a plurality of plungers embodying my present invention. v

Fig. 2 may be regarded as a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a single plunger section of the character disclosed in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing from the interior a single section of the character referred to. I

Referring in detail to that specific embodiment of my invention which I have chosen for purposes of illustration, 1 may be a pump cylinder, such as the barrel of a double acting pump, and 2 may be an upper plunger, operated by a hollow pump rod 3, through which extends an interior pump rod 4, adapted to move a lower plunger 5, the general mode of sequential operation of the respective plungers of a double acting pump so well known as to require no present description.

Referring now to the strictly novel features of my plunger, as the same may be embodied either in an upper plunger 2 or in a lower plunger 5, my plunger may be regarded as consisting essentially of an upper annulus 7 and a lower annulus 8 secured in a desired relationship by means such. as an apertured connecting barrel 9, surrounded by radially movable wall sections 1.0, 10, 10 and 10, retained by the respective flanges 1.1 and 11' upon the mentioned upper annulus 7 and the lower annulus 8, in the latter of which is shown a valve seat 12, provided with a valve 1.3, whose stem 14, in the case of the lower plunger 5, is provided with a guide aperture 15, extending through the spider 1.6, also secured to or integral with the lower annulus 8.

It being an object of the present invention to provide a pump plunger with radially movable sections adapted to make a watertight lit with an enclosing cylindrical wall, I prefer to employ for this purpose an even number, such as four, of radially movable sections of the character best shown in l t, each of these sections consisting of an outer T-shaped layer 17, secured to or integral with a slightly longer inner T-shaped layer 18, said layers preferably terminating in the same radial planes 19, 19 in such manner that when an even number of similar sections are assembled within and retained by the respective flanges 11, 11, each section being inverted relatively to the neighboring sections with which it cooperates, the outer layer of one section will overlie the inner layer of an adjacent section, and horizontal faces of the respective sections will cooperate in such a way, when the respective sections are pressed into contact with the surrounding pump cylinder or barrel, as to prevent a downward or outward movement of the water or other liquid confined within and above a plunger of my improved design.

It will be obvious that plunger sections of the character shown and described may be formed of any suitable material, such as wood or metal or a plastic composition, and that when they are formed of separate layers they may be secured together by means such as the rivets 20 and I may add that when a pump plunger of the character described is to be employed under conditions of variable or unusual pressure I may optionally employ, in connection with the connecting barrel 9, shown as provided at 20 and 21 with a threaded surfaoeadapted to engage a correspondingly threaded surface upon a cooperating annulus, and on the in terior of the mentioned connecting barrel, a lining element 22, shown as supported upon an inwardly extending collar 23 and provided with inclined apertures 24, 25, adapted to close to any desired degree, by amere rotation of the said lining element, the respective cooperating apertures 26, by which the pressure of an interior column of liquid may be transmitted to the respective radial sections 10, 10, 10*, 10, above described, the lining element 22 being option ally provided with nicks 27, or their equivalent, to facilitate a rotation thereof within the connecting barrel, optionally retained by a set screw 27.

Alternative means might obviously be employed to cause a suitable engagement of the interior surface of a pump cylinder by radially movable sections comprised in a plunger, it being obvious that if suitable pressure, such as that of the interior column of liquid (whose effect automatically increases with increased need) were not permitted to act upon the interior of the sections 10, 10, 10, 10, or their equivalent, my plunger would not operate in a satisfactory manner. My apertured cylinder 9 may accordingly be referred to rigid means for automatically varying the frictional contact of a plunger in response to variations in hydrostatic pressure, and my liner element 22 may then be regarded as constituting an additional and adjustable means for varying the frictional contact between a plunger and its enclosing walls.

The parts including the liner element 22 are adjusted for the, depth to which the plunger is to work by figuring the hydrostatic pressure for that depth before the phmger is inserted into the working position in the cylinder.

Although I have herein described one preferred embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that various features thereof may be independently employed, and also that various modifications might be made therein without departure from the spirit and scope of my invention, as the same is indicated above and in the following claims.

hat I claim is:

1. In a pump plunger, an upper annulus and a lower annulus secured together by an apertured connecting barrel surrounded by alternately reversed T-shaped plunger sections radially movable relatively thereto.

2. In a pump plunger, an upper annulus and a lower annulus secured together by an apertured connecting barrel surrounded by alternately reversed T-shaped plunger secltlll tions radially movable relatively thereto, each annulus being provided with means for retaining one end of said sections.

3. In a pump plunger, an upper annulus and a lower annulus secured together by an apertured connecting barrel surrounded by alternately reversed T-shaped plunger sec tions radially movable relatively thereto and overlapping at longitudinal joints.

4. In a pump plunger, an upper annulus and a lower annulus secured together by an apertured connecting barrel surrounded by alternately reversed T-shaped plunger sections radially movable relatively thereto and meeting at transverse joints.

5. In a pump, plunger sections consisting of a plurality of curved layers substantially T-shaped in outline.

6. In a pump, plunger sections consisting of a plurality of curved layers substantially T-shaped in outline, one of said T-shaped layers being inverted relatively'to the other.

7. In a pump, plunger sections consisting of a plurality of curved layers substantially T-shaped in outline, each of said sections being inverted relatively to adjacent sections.

8. In a pump, plunger sections consisting of a plurality of curved layer substantially T-shaped in outline, one layer of each section being longer than the other layer thereof.

9. In a pump, plunger sections consisting of a plurality of curved layers substantially T-shaped in outline, one layer of each section being longer than the other layer thereof and surrounded by a retaining means.

10. In a pump, plunger sections consisting of a plurality of curved layers substantially T-shaped in outline, the inner layer being broadest at one end of a section and the outer layer being broadest at the other end thereof.

11. In a pump, plunger sections consisting of a plurality of curved layers substantially T-shaped in outline, the inner and outer layers of each section being terminated at their widest parts by the same radial planes.

12. In a pump, a plunger comprising an apertured connecting barrel and an aper-.

tured liner shiftable in the barrel to adjust the apertures.

13. In a pump, a plunger comprising an apertured connecting barrel surrounded by interfitting sections radially movable and an apertured liner shiftable in the barrel to adjust the pressure against the inner sides of the interfitting sections.

14. In a pump, a plunger comprising an apertured connecting barrel provided with an apertured liner.

15. In a pump, a plunger comprising an apertured connecting barrel provided with an apertured liner movable relatively thereto.

16. In a pump, a plunger comprising an apertured connecting barrel provided with an apertured liner movable relatively thereto to vary the pressure of liquid therethrough by relative adjustment.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES J. S'OHENK. 

